Metro Digest / Local News in Brief

Protesters Ordered to Keep Clear of Karlin Home

A judge Thursday ordered protesters to stay at least 500 feet from the Manhattan Beach home of a jurist who sentenced a Korean-born grocer to probation for killing a black teen-ager last March.

The temporary restraining order issued by Judge Ronald Sohigian was served on activists spearheading the drive to oust Joyce Karlin from office. The Compton Superior Court judge sentenced grocer Soon Ja Du, 51, to five years probation in November.

Du, who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, shot Latasha Harlins to death March 16 in a dispute over whether the 15-year-old customer planned to pay for a $1.79 bottle of orange juice.